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Thursday, August 10, 2017

Picasso and friends

Well, we couldn't resist. Eric and I tuned in a few times and then pooled our favorite screen grabs from today's E/V Nautilus dive. [It feels a bit like watching the Olympics. The entire event is short (there are only 4 days left); and, you can tune in at any time and you never know what you're going to see!]A delicate pink soft coral:

This intriguing pink nudibranch was nearby. The color would be a good match for the coral polyps!

A bright Yellow Picasso Sponge, with a great genus name: Staurocalyptus.

It was fun seeing different types of sea pens. The one shown below is called Umbellula. [Sea pens in this genus can be found down to depths of 6000 meters!] If you're intrigued by sea pens, check out this paper by Gary Williams (who is on the ship):